Faking Innocence
by Fabs G
Summary: Sequel to Judging Innocence. Harry suspects something is going on between Sirius and Remus and, together with Ron and Hermione, they are determined to find out
1. Finding Out

Title: Faking innocence (1/4)

Author: Fabs G.

Summary: Sequel to Judging Innocence. Harry suspects something is going on between Sirius and Remus and, together with Ron and Hermione, they are determined to find out.

Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)

Pairings: Sirius/Remus (duh), slight James/Lily, hints of Ron/Hermione

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Professors Fengel and Rosier.

A/N: The long awaited sequel! (Ha! As if) Or rather, a sequel. Period. This IS **slash**, so the readers from Judging Innocence who don't like RL/SB Slash- don't read.

A/N2: It's not necessary to read Judging Innocence to understand what's going on, but many stuff will make a lot more sense. The basic you need to know is that Sirius is free.

A/N3: Review, and I will adore you!

Enjoy!

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**_Chapter 1: Finding Out_**

Harry time: December 22nd. Harry is sprawled on his bed reading from his father's diary_._

_(James' diary. The beginning of the Marauder's second year)_

_Remus is a werewolf. I guess you could call this an eventful day. And it's not even October yet. Oh boy, what a year this will be._

_The bloke is so stupid! (No offense, Remmy) He kept the secret from us because he thought we would desert him! Like if we would! Well, I _did_ see Peter quiver slightly and he confessed me he was a little scared but we talked a bit, away from Remus' and Sirius' earshot and he realized Remus is totally harmless._

_The thing is, Professor Rosier gave us an essay on werewolves. He talked about them throughout the whole class. Remus did seem awfully quiet during the class, now that I think of it… Anyway, last night the three of us (Sirius, Remus and I. Peter was in detention) were doing the essay on the common room. _

_Sirius, Remus and I settle down on one of the tables to do the essay at about 10pm. Merely half an hour later, when Sirius and I were struggling with the damn essay, Remus had already finished. I remember the dialogue:_

_"You've already finished?!" (Sirius. He hates doing essays)_

_"Yeah. I know a bit about werewolves" (Remus. Sounded _so_ depressed)_

_"Are you ok?" (Me. I _did_ catch that strange tone of voice)_

_"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" he was gathering his things, preparing to go to sleep (it was well past midnight) I saw Sirius shuffling his papers and take out his lunar calendar and read from his book. He looked at Remus (who had noticed this and was as stiff as if someone had cursed him with the body bind) and then look back to his book. Sirius turned and looked at me with his eyes wide open. **And I got it too**. Remus knew about werewolves because he was one!_

_Remus made an attempt to get out of the common room (not a dramatic stuff, just merely walking) but we sprang up from our chairs and stopped him before he reached the portrait._

_Sirius: "Wait!"_

_Me: "Don't leave!"_

_S: "Why didn't you tell us?"_

_Remus: "Why would I?"_

_M: "Because we're your friends"_

_R: "Are we still?"_

_S (He looked like he could kick him): "What kind of stupid question is that?"_

_M: "Of course we still are, we will always be"_

_R: "Even If I am… what you now know I am?" (He sounded as though he hated himself. I'm going to work on that so-called self-esteem of his)_

_S: "So you turn into a wolf once a month. Except for the pain you must feel during it… I think it's cool"_

_Remus chuckled. That was a good sign._

_M: "The only thing that this changes" (and Remus' face went snow-white) "is that now we know where you go every bloody month! 'My mum is ill' 'My aunt is ill' really…."_

"Harry can you come for a second?!" bellowed Sirius from downstairs.

Harry had no time to read Remus' reaction to his father's commentary, but judging from the fact that Sirius and Remus were still best friends, he didn't have much to wonder about.

"Coming!" he hopped from his bed at Remus' house, which by now he considered his own, left his father's diary over his pillow and went downstairs, finding Sirius and Remus in the kitchen. Everyone loved the kitchen. The whole house was big and every room was fairly well illuminated if the day and the sun helped. (And lately, it hadn't. It had been cloudy for days) Every room, in its own way was comfortable and welcoming, but the kitchen was the best of all of the rest. It was warm during the winter and fresh during the summer, it was spacious and with a giant-sized window that let them see the backyard and let the sun enter illuminating everything it could.

Of course, the house seemed so welcoming to Harry because after five months, even though he had spent them at Hogwarts, he considered the place like his true home. The Dursleys had been erased from his mind like if they had been a bad dream. However, every now and then someone mentioned 'the muggles you live with' and Harry grew bitter, making however had made the giant mistake understand that he lived with his godfather Sirius Black and with Remus Lupin. The person learnt to never make the mistake again.

Upon entering the kitchen, Harry saw that Sirius and Remus were bent down over something gray on the kitchen counter.

In the half-year since Sirius had been freed they had changed amazingly. Sirius had decided to leave his hair a little shorter than shoulder-length. Now that he had been eating everyday properly for a long amount of time his body had filled and his muscles reappeared just as he had looked in the photo of the Potters' wedding. He was nearing 40, but he looked younger than in his early 30s. Remus, although he looked basically the same, looked a lot healthier than before. His life was other now- he lived with his best friend and with his friend's son, and that definitively showed in his appearance.

"Seems kind of old" said Remus, prodding the gray thing over the counter slightly

"Don't do that, it might hurt him. Maybe he's sick?"

"Who's sick?" asked Harry

"Someone attempted sending you an owl, but look at the state of it…"

"He collapsed on the bird's fountain outside- nearly drowned, the poor thing. Luckily Sirius was there."

"I merely saw a gray blur splashing down"

Harry glanced at the envelopes forgotten over the table and recognized Ron's handwriting. "Errol?" asked Harry. The poor owl gave a faint hoot and fainted again. "Errol!" Harry took him in his hands and tried to revived him again, but the owl was as limp as if dead "Errol, wake up!"

"Errol?" asked Sirius

"It's the Weasley's family owl- the poor thing is so old it collapses on every trip"

"No wonder why- it really looks like he was born together with Godric Gryffindor"

"I wonder why he didn't use Pig" said Harry, prodding Errol awake without success.

"Pig?"

"The tiny owl you gave Ron- Ginny named him"

"Give him to me, Harry" said Remus "I'll revive him with some DeadUp and put him in Iris' cage" he said, talking about his own female owl.

Harry put Errol in Remus' safe hands and shifted his attention to Ron and Hermione's letters.

"Oh Good!" he said, reading the letters "They will be here tomorrow, and then you'll take us to the Hogwarts Express when the terms starts again- I thought Mrs. Weasley was going to say something but she has no problem."

"Good- I was about to send their gifts with Iris and Hedwig"

"Hedwig will be disappointed- she hasn't had a challenge in ages"

"Oh- Pig is over in the muggle world- delivering a letter for Hermione, that's why he sent Errol"

Remus entered back in the kitchen, with Errol up again but extremely exhausted

"I think it's best if you put him in Hedwig's cage, Harry. Iris threatened to bit him twice" Harry and Sirius chuckled. Iris, Remus' owl, was even worst that Hedwig when it concerned letting strange owls in her cage.

"Sure" Harry put the letters in his pocket and took Errol in his hands "I'll better owl Ron- tell him Errol will be staying here some days"

He climbed up the stairs and sat down at his desk. Hedwig hooted sweetly and moved so Errol would have more space in her cage. Errol fall asleep almost immediately.

"I have some work for you" he told Hedwig. The owl flew past Errol (almost knocking him down) gave a spectacular dive, and settled over Harry's desk again, stretching out one of her legs "Easy, I still have to write the note"

He scribbled a short note to Ron telling him about Errol and attached it to Hedwig, who soared past Harry's window and was soon out of sight.

Harry looked around for what to do next. He decided History of Magic and Charms were too boring and took his father's diary again, throwing himself flat on his stomach over his bed. He shuffled pages, going back and forth and finally chose to read a particularly long one from the Marauder's fifth year

_Halloween- how appropiate._

_Okay, Sirius is ready. I am ready. Peter is nearly there. Unless we leave Peter alone (we're not so lucky) We won't be ready to be with Remus tonight (full moon) Pity. I wanted to roam the school grounds at night- without the possibility of getting caught!_

_We have told Remus we still have a long way to be fully qualified (ha) animagi. "My best estimation" I told him while stepping over Sirius' foot so he wouldn't burst with the truth "is that we'll be able to be with you in about 3 months"_

_We're so cruel. _

_Same day at night_

_Peter managed it! I don't believe it!  We practiced all day and he finally managed to stay as a rat all day. As we've read about a thousand times, if a wizard manages to stay in his animal form longer than 5 hours, he will do so for as along as he wants to, but first, he has to reach the 5 hours and past them without popping back to human form. It took Peter so long we were sick of seeing his face! Haha!_

_Hmm.. I'll take dad's Realitizer and capture a transformation tomorrow… It really is something to be left in a Realitizer if three 15 year olds become animagi without anyone's help…_

_Okay, Remus is in the Shrieking Shack (We're giving Madam Pomfrey time to get back to the hospital wing so we can leave) and our plan is to just appear in front of him and transform in front of his very eyes. Everyone's so nervous. Peter is practicing changing into his rat and trying to reach his maximum speed. Sirius is sitting on an armchair, wallowing in who-knows-what thoughts. (And checking the map every 2 or three seconds) And I am getting it all out by writing._

_She's back to the hospital wing! We're off!_

_Next day, Very early_

_Moony was so emotional! Okay, so the wolf doesn't let him show emotions, and we roamed school grounds and played all night like children, but when we woke up this morning in the Shrieking Shack, after disentangling ourselves- animals like to sleep really together for the warmth- he started with the emotions._

_See, the thing is that as much as The Change makes him more wolf-like, opens up his senses and instincts, it also turns him a tad more emotional- and he hates that. First, he nearly killed me for telling him we needed another 3 months to transform (I repeat: Haha) and then he started on what great friends we were and how we deserved the best in life only because of what we did, etc, etc, etc. Our egos grew the size of the Hogwarts castle. _

_But- we forgot about a little detail. Remus had pulled us into a group hug (Aww!) when we heard Madam Pomfrey's knock on the door! How could we be so DUMB! Peter and Sirius (with those broad shoulders) decided they had a better chance at hiding in their Animagi form, especially Peter, so the dog and the rat crawled under the bed but my stag with those antlers… I jumped to the floor and crawled under the bed as James. Luckily, she didn't see Sirius or me, but she did see Peter- and what a marvelous sense of humor Peter has turned out to have. _

_I was holding him in my hand when he bit my finger, telling me he wanted to get loose. He scurried towards Madam Pomfrey's legs- she shrieked LOUDLY. Peter chased her all around the room until she climbed over the bed! The woman couldn't have been more of a classic!_

_Honestly, I don't know how we did to hold up our laughs. Or our barks, in Sirius' case. Haha._

_PS: One thing- When we woke this morning…Hmmm…_

_I was the first to wake, and barely lifted my head to see if Remus had transformed back or not. He had, and so had Sirius. They were hugging. Not emotional thanks-for-being-my-friend hugging, but the way… the same position Lily and I were hugging over my bed the other night, legs entangled and all. Is it really happening what I think is happening??_

_Oh My God._

What was his father talking about?? He hastily read the next entry, and the following one, and the following one, but he only found one very short and very intriguing entry: _My canine and lupine suspicions were correct. Woohoo!_  
He scanned the rest of the diary and stopped every time he read 'Sirius and Remus' or something alike, but his father offered no answers to his son's question.

Suddenly Harry remembered what Sirius had said when he had given the diary to him, on his birthday._ "Harry you should know that I took the liberty to hide the entries James wouldn't have wanted you to read somewhere safe…" _Maybe that was what Sirius had been talking about. And it was Remus the one who _discreetly_ asked Remus about The Entries.

At least Sirius had hinted that the missing entries were somewhere, so not all hope was lost. But Harry knew better than to do a thoroughly search of the house. When Sirius wanted to hide something, nobody could find whatever he had hidden.

He re-read his father's PS and absentmindedly twirled the diary in his fingers while racking his brains to what his father had really meant. Hugging. What could be so suspicious about hugging, he wondered, but if his parents had hugged like that and several years later he had been the outcome… Surely Sirius and Remus were not… 

But Harry asked himself, why not?

Now that they were both leading somewhat quiet lives and therefore were not terribly skinny or with huge bags under their eyes, Harry could see that even now in their mid-thirties they were handsome men. And they had been very close friends for years. Harry remembered once overhearing Remus telling Sirius that even when all evidence was against Sirius, he had never truly believed he could have done it. He'd always had a hard time believing Sirius' dark side. Hence, why when he was teaching at Hogwarts he didn't tell Dumbledore Sirius was an animagus.

Harry replayed in his mind his 5 months of knowing them as close as family and the last summer's events. Sirius and Remus always so close… Harry remembered watching them just after Sirius' trial had ended and thinking that that was the outcome of being apart from your friend for twelve years. But now that he read his father's diary he was getting as suspicious as his father had probably gone.

Shaking his head and thinking he was getting as paranoid as Neville before a potions exam, he got up from his bed and went downstairs, to find something to do. Otherwise he would be subjected to History of Magic.

He hoped to find them in the kitchen, but he searched the house until, when he was about to push the door that leaded to the outside of the house open-

"Sirius, we can't do that with Harry in the house"

"Oh come on, with just a simple silencing charm"

"Sirius… what if Harry walks in _just in that moment_?" he stressed every syllable of the last four words.

"We do it at night, when we're sure he's sleeping" no answer. "Listen, Ron and Hermione will be here tomorrow for Christmas, and it'll be even more complicated then. I miss you" More silence. No wait, it wasn't silent… what was that sound? Was that… was that the sound of someone kissing?! Harry now felt exactly like his father right now.

"Silencing charm you say?" said Remus in an odd voice.

Unfortunately, in that moment, Harry's wand slipped from his pocket (it was already halfway out of it) and Harry hastily picked it up. He pushed the door open and he found himself face to face with Remus.

"Harry…" he did seem awfully nervous.

"Were you listening?" Sirius didn't seem particularly nervous, he actually seemed… amused. Remus sat down besides him in the benches that were out in the garden.

Harry chose faked ignorance "'course not. Just came in but dropped my wand. What would you need a silencing charm for?"

"Uhh…" Sirius looked at Remus for a second "Remus wants to do a potion"

"I thought you were awful at them"

"He is. That's why we need the silencing charm… His explosions are really loud" Remus choked on the pumpkin juice he was drinking, accidentally spilling it all over. He glared at Sirius.

"Am not! I-I- I mean, are not!" Sirius couldn't help but laugh at him as he wiped the pumpkin juice of his robes and off the table.

They went on talking for a while, but Harry now knew it. Something was going on between Sirius and Remus, and he wouldn't rest until he found out what it was. It wouldn't be easy knowing them, but Harry smiled. Ron and Hermione would arrive the next day, and he couldn't think of a better help to get a secret out of someone.

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To be continued!

Review!


	2. Ron and Hermione

Title: Faking innocence (2/4)

Author: Fabs G.

Summary: Sequel to Judging Innocence. Harry suspects something is going on between Sirius and Remus and, together with Ron and Hermione, they are determined to find out.

Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)

Pairings: Sirius/Remus (duh), slight James/Lily, hints of Ron/Hermione

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Professors Fengel and Rosier.

A/N: The long awaited sequel! (Ha! As if) Or rather, a sequel. Period. This IS **slash**, so the readers from Judging Innocence who don't like RL/SB Slash- don't read.

A/N2: As I said, you reviewed and now I adore you! :-) If your continue to do so, I'll bow at your feet. ;)

Enjoy!

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**_Chapter 2: Ron and Hermione_**

"Could they be any later?" muttered Harry the next day, pacing down the sitting room, staring at the flames in the fireplace over and over again.

Remus tore his eyes of his book, leaving in the unknown whether if Gollum would find out Bilbo had his ring or not "Calm down Harry. Maybe Hermione had some trouble using floo powder or decided to travel the muggle way. Why would you need them at 11 am sharp? You're on holidays"

Harry turned to see Remus. "Because the last time someone was late to meet me, Arthur Weasley burst the chimney to pieces- literally!"

Remus eyed the chimney a little apprehensively, but whatever he had been about to say was interrupted by a female voice coming out of the chimney "Then you probably shouldn't stand so close, should you?" Hermione had appeared inside the chimney, struggling to keep her trunk and Crookshanks' basket from being eaten by the flames "Help me with this, I've enchanted it to lose some weight but it's still heavy. Ron's coming"

Remus got up from his armchair and, much to Harry's surprise, picked up the trunk and Crookshank's basket from Hermione's hands by himself while she stepped out of the flames.

Harry looked at him wide eyed "How- How…? Hermione's trunk is one of the heaviest around even if it is enchanted- and Crookshanks- how can you hold it up all by yourself?" asked Harry while Remus effortlessly placed it on the floor

"Werewolf strength" he said while letting Crookshanks free. The cat purred at Remus' legs for a moment and then set off to explore the house.

They did the same with Ron's trunk when he arrived. They greeted Remus hastily, although politely. Harry was urging them upstairs.

Harry wanted Ron and Hermione in his room, partly to show them how he was living now (it was the first time they would be staying at the house) and partly to tell them his suspicions. They met Sirius halfway, and they beamed at him when they saw how much he had changed.

"Wow" said Hermione before she could restrain herself. She hadn't seen him since The start of the term. "You look so much better"

"Yeah" said Ron "You look… healthier" Sirius flashed his biggest smile at them. (And Hermione went slightly pink)

"And fuller… you wouldn't believe how much he likes to eat" said Harry, smirking at Sirius.

"Haha" said Sirius flatly "Go already if you don't want some jelly-legs"

"Wow" said Ron, upon entering Harry's room "Twice bigger than yours at the Dursley's" and he flinched immediately when he realized he had said the 'D' word.

"I don't have a room at the Dursley's" said Harry sternly. Now that he knew what living with someone who actually cared about you felt like, he couldn't understand how he had survived fourteen years of living where everyone hated him and he was grounded senselessly everyday.

Ron and Hermione stopped scanning the room and looked at him. 

"You'll never go back there, Harry" said Hermione soothingly.

"Yeah, don't let it ruin your Christmas"

Harry looked at them and decided he wouldn't. He then noticed his father's diary over the bed. He went to the door, popped his head outside to check that no one was around and told Ron and Hermione what he had heard and what he had read.

"Oh my God" Hermione was astonished, to say the least "You think they're in love?"

"Well, your father did" Ron read again his father's PS in his diary.

"I thought I was being paranoid, but after overhearing that conversation… There is something going on between them, and I frankly want to know what it is"

"But Harry… It's their lives. Suppose they really are together. If they were ready to tell you, wouldn't they have already done it?" Hermione, the voice of reason for the boys.

This left Harry doubtful. Wasn't he like a son to them? Why hadn't they told him, anyway?

"But remember what Sirius said at the courtroom when he wanted you to know that he had meant for my mum to adopt you, or be your guardian or whatever? 'Let's start my freedom without secrets' or something along those lines"

They both had a point. It was their private lives and truth be told, Harry had no right to meddle. But if Sirius really wanted to have no secrets from Harry… Well, that that was one of the biggest secrets you could keep from someone.

"Well? What are you going to do?" Ron's expectant face and broad grin could only mean that he also was dying to know if they were right about everything. Hermione raised a warning eyebrow and her face reminded her a lot of Professor McGonagall, but Harry pretended not to see this.

"I want to know what's going on"

"Then we have work to do!" exclaimed Ron, delighted to have some mischief to do without endangering themselves.

"But!" Hermione seemed to be looking for a reason to stop them. However she, too, wanted to know if Harry's suspicions were right. She was cut short of whatever she was going to say when the door of the room flew open and a smiling Sirius poked his head into the room "Who wants to see a Boggart? It's in the grandfather clock" he didn't leave them time to answer and left the room. 

Harry sprang up from the bed, followed closely by Ron and Hermione. They found Remus outside in the hall, and Harry and him looked at each other for a second.

"You're not going to fight the boggart" said Remus soothingly

In no time they were downstairs, in the dining room, and they found Sirius in front of the grandfather clock. He was twirling his wand with his fingers

"Who wants to have a go at it?" Sirius looked at Harry evidently amused "Harry?" 

Sirius turned to his godson, only to find him white and, although Harry had not meant it, a little hidden behind Remus. 

Ron and Hermione, although still in the room, decided to stay out of it. They remembered very well how angry Harry had been when he told them he heard her parents die when a dementor got near. And a boggart was Harry's easiest way to get near a dementor.

As for Harry, he was staring at the grandfather clock, not paying attention to his godfather or his friends or to Remus, who was staring at him. The ghost of her mother's voice was back, and although Harry wanted to hear his mother speak, he surely did not wanted to hear her while dying. The ambiguity of the desire to hear and not to hear that desperate voice plead for her son's life was painful.

"Harry?" called Sirius, taking a step towards him "Are you ok?"

"Sure, I'm fine" His face was normal again, and he returned to his position besides Remus. Harry looked at him briefly, but it was enough for Remus to understand that he didn't have any desire to face a dementor. 

"Want to tackle the boggart? It'll be nice to see you in action" he smiled mischievously

"Nah, you do it" Harry tried to make his voice sound casual, but he wasn't very sure he had succeeded

"Come on, I want to see you in action and in no danger" he even offered him his wand.

"Sirius he said no" Interjected Remus before the Potter pride made a hold of Sirius' wand. Remus noticed Harry's face going slightly white again and he hadn't missed the insecure voice. His voice was steely, leaving no doubt that he wasn't joking.

"Jealou-" Sirius cut himself short in his taunting when he saw that Remus' brow was frowned and his face as stern as he usually goes when he's serious about something. He frowned himself, wondering what could be so wrong to put him like this.

Harry was looking at Remus too "No. I don't want him…"

Remus changed his face "He'll have to know someday, Harry. Better it be from us"

Harry nodded.

"What is going on here?" Sirius looked at Remus and then at Ron and Hermione, who just looked back at him, Hermione biting her lip. "Not only do I find very strange the fact that Harry faces Voldemort by choice and goes white with a boggart, but also the fact that you four are hiding me something"

"If Harry faces the boggart, Sirius, what do you think it'll transform to?" asked Remus

"Voldemort, naturally. I was hoping to see the bastard wearing something ridiculous or shrink or something"

"Harry's greatest fear isn't Voldemort, Sirius. It's the dementors" Sirius grimaced. He made a movement with his hand to grip Harry's shoulder but Remus stopped him. "There's more Sirius… The dementors have a… special… effect on Harry"

"Like with everybody else, you mean?"

"No. When there's a dementor near, Harry hears James and Lily dying. I taught him how to defend himself, but I won't allow the boy to face the boggart and hear them again"

It was Sirius' turn to go white. He stared at Remus long enough for him to wonder if he had understood a word of what he had said. Finally, Sirius looked at Harry. "I'm sorry"

"It's ok, you didn't know about my dementor fear" said Harry, trying to show a little more bravery. It's not like if he went totally stupid in front of a dementor.

"No" said Sirius, his face no longer white "I mean… I'm sorry for everything I caused you"

With a look, Remus ushered Ron and Hermione out of the room, leaving Sirius and Harry alone.

"Everything you caused me?"

"If it wasn't be for me, you wouldn't have to hear your parents die"

Harry knew what was going on. It wasn't the first time Sirius blamed himself for what had happened to James and Lily, and it certainly wouldn't be the last time he would blame himself for 'Harry's misery' "If it wasn't for Wormtail. All you did was try to protect your friends, protect me, and in the meantime, give me a family" At the word 'family' Sirius looked up to his godson's eyes. The silent question was evident in his eyes "The Dursleys were never my family. You and Remus are my only family"

Sirius smiled a smile that lighted up his whole face. "You won't be able to stop me from blaming myself" he started saying "But you surely do know how to cheer me up when I do"

They smiled at each other and hugged. But Harry's mind was working fast again. He knew exactly what to say next. He wasn't going to get a confession, but he was going to get some kind of reaction… he hoped

"How about something" he told Sirius "How about we promise to never keep any kind of secret from each other?" and he extended his hand.

He did get a reaction. For a split second, but he did. Sirius flinched at this and Harry could have jumped from joy. Sirius was indeed keeping something from him. But in no time, he slipped into his actor skin and he left no traces of any kind of flinching in his face.

Sirius carefully hid his left hand in his pocket and extended his right hand to shake Harry's one vigorously. "Promise." They moved towards the door, knowing the others would like to know what happened "But if we're going to tell each other everything you should know that I dated your mother for two months when we were in 4th year"

This drove all idea of any secrets from Harry's mind. "You're kidding"

"I'm not" he said while opening the door and stepping out to the hall "We started going out in Valentine's day, we were together for two months –that's how we came to be such close friends." He explained with a sad smile while walking down the hall "But we found out that we worked better as friends than as a couple -we fought a lot. She was friends with the rest of the guys, she knew about Remus and had helped us amazingly in becoming Animagi, so we didn't want to lose each other as friends or ruin the group. So instead of throwing a nice friendship to the garbage, we broke up. Two months later James came up shivering like a leaf in autumn asking me if he could ask Lily out because he _really_ liked her. You're the outcome" Harry snorted at his godfather's lack of tact.

"Only because I encouraged him to talk to you" Interrupted Remus, opening the door of the kitchen and inviting them to enter. Ron and Hermione were peering behind him.

"You did?"

"Yes. I thought you knew." Sirius shook his head "He came to me, also shivering, and instead of saying he really like her he downright told me he was in love with her." Seeing Sirius' amazed face, he went on "I told him to talk to you about a hundred times, even Peter thought he should do it, but he was afraid you still liked her or something and didn't want to step in the middle " 

"I had no idea. Way to go, Moony! So you're responsible for Harry here!"

Everyone laughed loudly.

"Hey" said Harry, looking at Sirius "How come it's not in his diary?"

Sirius and Remus went very nervous. "That'd be because… Erm…. *cough* It's in the pages I hid" Ron, Harry and Hermione grinned at each other

"Oh. Is that why you hid them?" _Please say no, please say no_ chanted Harry to himself.

"No" and anticipating Harry's next question, he went on "And I'm not going to tell you why I hid them"

Harry flashed a wicked grin to Sirius "Isn't that keeping a secret from me?"

Sirius looked pleadingly at Remus, not knowing what to answer "Remuuuuuuus!" he begged which made everyone laugh even louder

"Calm down Sirius. Harry… we hid those pages because we- because _your parents_ wouldn't have wanted you to see them"

Harry crossed his arms over his chest, as did Ron and Hermione, who were struggling to keep hold of their emerging laughs. "I don't believe you" he said with a perfectly straight face that betrayed no emotions.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I don't believe you" _Might as well let them know that I'm not completely dumb_ said Harry to himself "We have the feeling that you're hiding something from us"

If anyone of the trio still had any doubts of Sirius and Remus hiding something from them, they vanished in that instant. Sirius and Remus went equally white, looked at each other and stuttered helplessly. 

"And we just got our confirmation" and without waiting for a reply, Harry whirled around in the spot and placed his hands on Ron and Hermione's shoulders. In a voice that reminded Ron and Hermione strongly of Oliver Wood, he called "Team! Upstairs!"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

To be continued!

Review!


	3. Preparing

Title: Faking innocence (3/4)

Author: Fabs G.

Summary: Sequel to Judging Innocence. Harry suspects something is going on between Sirius and Remus and, together with Ron and Hermione, they are determined to find out.

Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)

Pairings: Sirius/Remus (duh), slight James/Lily, hints of Ron/Hermione

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Professors Fengel and Rosier.

A/N: The long awaited sequel! (Ha! As if) Or rather, a sequel. Period. This IS **slash**, so the readers from Judging Innocence who don't like RL/SB Slash- don't read.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I love you all so much! ;)

Enjoy!

------------------------------**__**

**__**

**_Chapter 3: Preparing_**

**Harry time: December 24th**

_The Marauder's Sixth year Christmas day_

_Well! At last Remus started talking to Sirius again! If they'd had spend Christmas like that I'd have probably moved to Lily's dormitory. I was their bloody messenger! _

_Remus and his steely voice "James, would you please pass me Sirius' unicorn hairs"_

_Sirius trying to be nice knowing he couldn't talk to Remus directly "James, tell him there're no more hairs- but nicely"_

_Peter had already dubbed me Hermes. Ha. Very funny._

_The bad thing is even though I got Snape of the Whomping Willow, he managed to see Remus. The git now knows Moony is a werewolf. ARGH I hate him! If it hadn't been because Sirius had already enough thinking__ he had lost Moony's friendship and else I'd had stopped talking to him myself. But luckily Dumbledore managed to step in the middle and he made Snape promise, in front of us, that he wouldn't breath a word of what he saw. Hahaha_

_BUT the real problem was… Moony can hold a grudge for as long as he wants to… He didn't talk to Sirius for two bloody weeks! The first days I let him do it, but some days after it Sirius became so miserable! I talked to Moony but he wouldn't let it go…_

_I talked to Sirius and he understood and justified Moony completely, but still…_

_"I'm losing him, James" he told me about three days before they made up. I tell you, it broke my heart to pieces. Just thinking of Lily and me in their situation… well, I understand Sirius completely._

_But, Moony finally gave in when he realized how Sirius was practically wasting himself. They talked and talked and talked in the common room, and when I finally peered in to see what was going on (it was about 3am) they had fallen asleep next to each other. Next morning (namely, today) everything was normal again! We opened out gifts like if nothing had happened. (Remus promised to give Sirius' his gift in private)_

_Everything is back to normal!_

"See?" said Harry to Ron and Hermione "Again, my dad is comparing them to my mom and him" The three of them were sprawled over Harry's bed reading from James' diary.

"Besides, I don't know if you've noticed what your dad wrote Harry," said Hermione matter-of-factly "'losing Moony's friendship _and else_'"

"She's right" said Harry, re-reading the entry.

"And what's that about them falling asleep together?" asked Ron

"Ron" called Hermione "friends fall asleep next to each other everyday"

"Well, I would never fall asleep next to Harry" he said matter-of-factly

"Oh, what am I, Weasley-repellent?" said Harry, opening his eyes very wide and pretending to be offended.

"No, I mean, you know…" his ears had gone red "like sleep together" he said in a little voice

Hermione eyed Harry, knowing where he wanted to get Ron "Ron, you're lying on the same bed he is"

"Next to each other, in fact" said Harry, his voice no different as if he had spotted a problem in a DADA essay. He playfully entangled his leg to Ron's. 

"Not to mention that you have shared a dormitory for the last four and a half years"

"Harry PLEASE!" shouted Ron, blushing a furious crimson and kicking Harry's leg out of his way "I- What I mean is…" and Harry and Hermione couldn't hold it any longer and burst into laughter.

Ron made an attempt to reach for his wand, which was over Harry's bedside table, but Sirius popped his head in the room in that instant "What's going on here?" he said. Seeing he couldn't curse them in front of Sirius, he aimed at both their ribs and started tickling them in the old fashioned way.  

"Can I come in?" asked Sirius as Hermione ducked Ron's hands and jumped out of bed, taking refuge behind Sirius.

"Su-sure" giggled Harry, who was now the full center of attention of Ron and was laughing himself mad under Ron's attacks. He looked at Sirius and Hermione, who were leaning on the wall enjoying the show. "Wo-would you mi-mind he-helping? Ron! Stop!"

"Why? Vengeance is sweet!" he said, openly quoting Snape in the Shrieking Shack two years before.

"Alright!" and he pushed Ron from over himself and run to where Hermione was, pushing her towards him "Tickle her! She deserves it too!"

Ron would have, but Hermione had her wand already prepared, smiling triumphantly. Ron looked disappointed. "Killjoy"

"Can I speak now?" said Sirius smiling.

"Sure" Harry and Hermione sat on Harry's bed, strategically far from Ron 

"I'll be leaving for a while- no longer than half an hour"

Harry frowned his brow "On holidays? Where're you going?"

"Hogwarts, I have to speak to Dumbledore to arrange some things. But I'll be apparating in Hogsmeade and using the HoneyDukes passageway so I won't be long"

Sirius kneeled in front of Harry "Remus is staying, but if there's any problem you know where the floo powder is. Go to Arabella Figg's house, she's a friend of us, and has my full trust. The House's shields are all up and working. The firebolt is in the cupboard-"

"Sirius, we'll be fine. You don't have to worry so much" said Harry, feeling like a 5-year-old. "Besides Remus is staying, so what could happen?"

Sirius raised his hand and moved Harry's bangs out of his forehead, uncovering his scar and tracing it with a finger. "Better be safe than sorry"

"Ok, see, _this_ is going too far, Harry" said Hermione later as Harry pushed open the door to Remus and Sirius's bedroom. With Sirius gone and Remus downstairs it was the perfect chance to sneak up in their bedroom to check for anything embarrassing. 

"It's my house, they're practically my godparents. In any case, you _two_ are going too far" said Harry

"And you think that's going to stop us?" said Ron "Oh damn…" 

"What?" asked Hermione, who had been left in the hall keeping an eye out in case Remus decided to come upstairs

"There're twin beds"

"Well, it would have been a little obvious having a king size one, wouldn't it?" snapped Hermione, tense at being prying into her professor's bedroom.

Ron and Harry looked everywhere they could have looked without feeling they were really going too far. But… "There's nothing. No portrait, not even a photo album." Said Harry, frustrated "You'd think they'd had some pictures of their dead friends"

"Well" said Ron, who was leaning under the beds and crawling under them, checking both floor and mattress "You're the perfect combination of them. Maybe they only need to look at you"

Harry smiled at Ron, deeply touched at what he had just said, and then Hermione voiced what he was thinking, "That's so sweet"

"It is? Sorry Harry" he laughed "Ooh! Look what we have here!" He emerged from under one of the beds with a photo album. Not as thick as Harry's, but a photo album nonetheless.

"Psst!" whispered Hermione from outside "Professor Lupin's coming up"

Ron and Harry looked at each other. Ron pushed the album in Harry's hand, who shrank it with his wand and put it in his pocket. He whispered to Hermione to invent an excuse. As they scurried under the beds just in case, they heard Hermione telling him something about the water not running in the bathroom upstairs and asking him to point her the way to the downstairs bathroom.

Ten minutes later, Hermione was back in Harry's room with her friends. They searched the album back and forth but only found photos of them together- hugging, a couple with them surreptitiously holding hands, a couple with James and Lily, but nothing to tell them that now they were still together, as Hermione pointed out.

"That is only showing that when they were back at Hogwarts, they were together." she said to Harry, who knew she had a point "What if it happened like with Sirius and your mum, they broke up but remained friends for years?"

"I hate to say this" began Ron "but she is right" 

Hermione smiled triumphantly.

"So what can we do now?"

Hermione's smile, though, faded soon.

"What is it?" asked Harry

"There is something else we could do- a spell" and she remained silent, wincing slightly as though she expected something to blow up.

"Well?" encouraged her Ron and Harry.

"The spell reveals people who are lovers- or rather, who are in love with each other. It draws half a heart on the person's chest with their lover's initials in them"

Harry noticed Ron seemed to have become a little pale "Can it be cast on certain people or does it need to be on everyone- everyone around?"

"It's- it's cast centered on a couple but it affects everyone around" Hermione too was a little pale, Harry noticed as she run to her trunk and took out her Charms book. He made a self note to talk later to Ron about Hermione- did he like her? 

"So, say if- if Harry is in love with someone, it doesn't matter if the spell was directed to Sirius, the little heart- half heart, will show up in his chest too" _Oh he definitively likes her_, thought Harry as he saw Ron blush a fierce crinsom.

"Exactly. The spell _will_ be centered on Sirius and Remus, but it will also affect- affect us." she stuttered. "The thing is" she continued, opening her book to one of the last pages, bending down her head and burying her nose in it. "And this will make you mad, Ron, I'm warning you- it needs to be performed by two people who have a nearly perfect friendship" she looked at Harry "Like, two people who have never seriously fought"

Ron and Harry got it at the same time. Ron and Hermione had had a serious fight in their third year and Harry and Ron had had one in their 4th. Although Harry and Hermione hadn't talk much during Ron and Hermione's fight, none of them was so seriously mad at the other.

"In other words," said Ron "you two are the ones doing it" Harry and Hermione waited for the blow- but it never came "I'm ok with it"

"You're not- you're not mad at me? At us?" asked Hermione sheepishly.

"No. I want to know if those two are really in love, and if the only way is having you two performing a perfect friendship spell, then so be it. You've got my blessing"

It took a while for Harry and Hermione to accept Ron wasn't mad. But Ron was also as curious as Harry was, and that probably justified everything.

In the end, they decided they would perform the spell the next day, before opening their gifts (Sirius and Remus were going to place them under the Christmas tree in the living room) and because the spell needed to be done in the morning and would last for a whole day. As it needed items the people to be centered in had just touched, Ron said he would do it. That way everyone would be doing something, he said.

Some time later, Remus' voice called them from downstairs "Can you all come for a second?"

They climbed down the stairs and found Sirius and Remus were sitting at the table. Just when Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the kitchen, Sirius smacked Remus over the head with something. Harry looked closer- a letter. An official looking letter. "What's up?" he asked them

"Sit down. All of you" said Sirius, failing to hide a smile. 

"Why?" Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down, eyeing Sirius and Remus apprehensively. 

"We have a surprise for you" said Remus. He, too, was smiling "For all of you"

"We!" said Sirius indignantly "If it hadn't been for me! I convinced you!"

Remus glared at his friend only to break into a smile.

"Convince him of what?" If there is one thing that Harry Potter was, it's curious.

Remus took the letter from Sirius hands and handed it to Harry "Read"

Harry unfolded the letter, Ron and Hermione peering from his sides. They saw it was from Dumbledore, and he read it out loud:

_Dear Remus,_

_It's been such a long time since we talked, hasn't it? How are you? How is everybody? I trust the last change wasn't too bad. Even I felt the pull of the full moon, so strong it was. I also trust you two aren't having too much fun on Harry's expense _(Harry snorted loudly and eyed two distracted-looking adults)_  
  
_

_I am sure Harry and Sirius will read this letter too, so Harry, if you need it, I can teach you a very amusing spell that renders the victim(s) incapable of performing any kind of prank. _(Harry could practically see Dumbledore winking one of his blue eyes)__

_But, moving on because I unfortunately am busy, let me state the motif of my letter, besides obviously knowing how you are doing. As I'm sure Harry has vented out on you during the term and when he got back home from his last term for the Christmas holidays, our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Mr. Fengel,_(Harry groaned and Ron and Hermione moaned)_ although highly intelligent, is causing a little mayhem around Hogwarts. The students don't like him for the simple motive of the amount of homework he gives them and the strictness he uses during his classes. Normally, I wouldn't think this as a motive of firing someone, but I have had some complaints from teachers too. Minerva swears he went _too far_ with her, If you understand what I mean. I myself have been witness of his scattered taunting of Professor Flitwick's size and I have heard some rumors about myself too. I cannot tolerate this any longer._

_What I am saying, Remus is that I need a decent teacher like you. _(The trio of kids squealed)_ I wouldn't like to fire Professor Fengel and find myself in the difficult position of not having a new teacher when the next term starts or having one and finding him not qualified enough, so before I do anything drastic, I ask you to please consider my offer of having you again as a DADA teacher._

_Sirius and Harry: if there's anyone over this planet stubborn enough to convince him of taking my offer, is you two. Good luck._

_Hope to hear soon from you,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

"You _are_ going to accept, aren't you?" Ron looked straight into Remus' amused eyes, who was looking at a very interesting spot on the wall past Sirius' shoulder. "**_Re_**mus!" stressed Harry

"Well…" started Remus, but Harry cut him short

"Dumbledore says he's highly intelligent, but he's never been in a class with the guy! I've had to suspend Quidditch practice twice already to finish all the homework for him! You have to accept!"

"Kids…"

"Oh he is intelligent, alright" snapped Hermione "But he can't teach! He makes fun of us! We've got enough of that with Snape! Snape at least can teach! He's worse than Snape" And that was saying something, especially if it came from the mouth of Hermione Granger- now a prefect.

"Everyone loves you in there! They don't care if you're a werewolf! Do it for Harry at least!" Ron again.

"I was wondering if you'd let me speak, Potter, Weasley and Granger!" said Remus in an uncanny personification of McGonagall. Sirius laughed loudly. Harry, Ron and Hermione smiled and shut their mouths. "Sirius has already done the work for you. I sent Dumbledore my acceptance owl half an hour ago"

"Yes!" shouted everyone. Ron and Harry high-fived each other while Hermione flung her arms around them.

They then threw their arms around Remus and let go a moment later "We should write to your brothers, Ron. And Ginny! And Neville and Lavender too, they hated Fengel. You know what?" asked Harry as they climbed up the stairs again, which were in the kitchen "I'll just write to everyone I know. I'll take your owl!"

Sirius and Remus smiled at the retreating backs of the children. They loved seeing Harry so happy.

Remus noted a hand on his chin, forcing him to look at Sirius. "I told you they'd adore the idea"

Remus smiled at his… _friend_. "You were right, I admit it. Even if it is in the middle of the year"

Sirius' face got closer to Remus'. His lips were just inches apart "Tell me the last time I wasn't right" Silence "Ha" 

And, smiling, Sirius closed the remaining distance between them.

*-*-*-*-*

_Dear Fred, George, Ginny, Dean, Neville, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati,_

_I am writing to you a very short letter that I'm sure will render you all very happy.   
For a start, I have 4 little words:_

_Dumbledore will fire Fengel._

_But, I have another 4 words:_

_Lupin will be back!!!_

_I just saw the letter Dumbledore sent Rem- Professor Lupin, and basically, it said that if he accepted his offer to teach DADA again, Dumbledore would fire Fengel NOW. Lupin accepted!_

_I have heard it from a very reliable source (namely, Remus Lupin himself. I live with the guy!) but feel free to write as many times as you want to ask for confirmation of these wonderful news_.__

_See you soon,_

_Harry_

Harry took out his wand and made 7 other copies of the letter. He borrowed Remus' owl and woke up Hedwig. She hooted happily when she saw the amount of letters she had to deliver but got slightly disappointed when he gave 4 letters each owl. (Fred, George and Ginny's tied together) 

He saw the owls fly from his window in opposite directions and in no time, they were out of sight. 

**Christmas morning**

The next morning, or shall we say the next _very nervous_ morning, Ron got up before the others- both Remus and Sirius were early birds. He decided to bring the invisibility cloak with him. Although he waited he didn't hear any revealing piece of news, nor did he see any kind of kiss, but he seized the perfect chance and grabbed the mugs Remus and Sirius had just drank their coffee in, leaving them both clueless as to where could two simple mugs have gone.

"Victory!" whispered Ron brandishing the mugs when he saw Hermione was already in Harry's room reviewing the Charms book again. "And Happy Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas" answered Hermione and Harry.

"Perfect!" glowed Hermione, admiring the mugs like if it was the first time she ever saw one of the kind "The book even suggest mugs as the perfect items! They've been touched by the hands, lips, even breath…"

"Calm down, you're not going to get marks for this spell" said Ron, reading from the book. Hermione squinted at him

"Alright" said Harry closing the book with a loud SNAP "It's now or never. Hermione…" he said, and stood up, positioning himself and his friend. They had to be facing each other, about two or three feet away, and point at each other with their wands while saying the words.

"Ready?" asked Ron. Both nodded "You remember what you have to say?" they nodded again.

Harry and Hermione raised their wands, pointing at the other's hearts, and said at the same time "Let our perfect friendship show the love around us. _Amorus mostrus_"

A flash of red light erupted from both Harry and Hermione's wands, making Ron give a yelp. The flash of red light hovered around Harry and Hermione for a while and then shot itself all around, seeming to be covering as long as it could go, while knocking both friends to the ground. 

For a second, Ron felt a slight burn in the middle of his chest. Knowing what it could mean, he opened his t-shirt and peered from the neck down. Right over where his own real heart was beating, the half of a heart with the letters "HG" had been imprinted on Ron's chest, looking very much like a recent tattoo. He grew redder than his hair and hastily pushed his t-shirt back onto his skin again. 

Not missing one of his movements, Harry smiled broadly at him while helping Hermione to get up (who Harry also noticed seemed to be extremely red) Ron, if possible, went even redder.

Feeling like the chance was too great to let it pass up, Harry _innocently_ asked: "Do you think it worked?"

"It did" answered Ron and Hermione at the same time. Their faces, which had been returning to normal, went crimson again.

"I have a question" asked Hermione, hastily changing the subject "How are we going to actually look at their chests?"

Ron and Harry's faces fell. They hadn't thought about it.

"Maybe if we accidentally throw something on their shirts" suggested Ron.

"And I guess they'll strip in front of us" said the voice of reason again.

"We could put a heating spell around the house and make them lose their clothing" suggested Harry

"Or just watch reactions while having breakfast" said Ron. "I'm starving and I want to open my gifts"

And at least for the next hour, their plan was to eat.

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To be continued!

Review!


	4. Finally

Title: Faking innocence (4/4)

Author: Fabs G.

Summary: Sequel to Judging Innocence. Harry suspects something is going on between Sirius and Remus and, together with Ron and Hermione, they are determined to find out.

Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)

Pairings: Sirius/Remus (duh), slight James/Lily, hints of Ron/Hermione

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Professors Fengel and Rosier.

A/N: The long awaited sequel! (Ha! As if) Or rather, a sequel. Period. This IS **slash**, so the readers from Judging Innocence who don't like RL/SB Slash- don't read.

Enjoy!

------------------------------**__**

**__**

**_Chapter 4: Finally_**

**Meanwhile, downstairs…**  
"Open up your shirt" said Sirius suddenly, feeling the slight burning in his chest.

"Here, in the kitchen? Let's go to the bedroom at least" said Remus with mischief in his voice

"I'm not coming onto you. Open up your shirt"

Remus frowned but obeyed him. Sirius looked directly at Remus' chest and bit his lip, not knowing if to smile or to kiss Remus or to downright kick himself.

There was half a heart in Remus chest with his initials on it. He took off his t-shirt (and Remus couldn't help but smile while butterflies emerged in his stomach) and saw that there, too was half a heart, but instead with the letters "RJL" on it.

"Alright" said Remus "I find it unbelievably arousing that those initials in your chest are mines but this can only mean one thing"

Sirius nodded "They know"

"Or are trying to. The photo album _did_ disappear" 

"You still think they have it?"

"Well, as far as I know photo albums and mugs do not walk alone without a wizard's help"

"And as far as I know, Harry is not the kind that steals nor Hermione gets into her professor's room"

"Alright then, suppose your godfather may be hiding you that he's in love with his best friend, who's also living with you. What would you do?"

"Force him to have Veritaserum"

Remus rolled his eyes "Then suppose you're Harry. What would he do?"

"Take the album. Perform a spell"

"My point has been proven"

"Fuck!" exploded Sirius, sitting down on one of the chairs "I wanted to be the one to tell him, not have him find out like this!"

"Sirius, I don't think you should worry. The fact that he's sneaking up in our bedroom or performing spells is a good sign"

"I'm sorry?" he lifted up his head to face Remus.

"Well believe me on this one, if Harry was angry, he would have come to you and screamed to your face whatever question there was in his mind"

"You're right again. So? What do we do?"

But they didn't have time to agree to anything, because in that instant they heard a door slam and three pair of feet climbing down the stairs. Sirius hastily put his t-shirt back on.

"Morning!" they called cheerfully and swallowed some grins as they saw Sirius putting on his t-shirt. Unfortunately, he wasn't facing them.

"Morning" called Sirius and Remus back "What are you doing up so early?" asked Remus, already placing warm toasts and marmalade on the table, where the trio was sitting down. "Bring me the milk" he called to Sirius. 

"Just woke up, I guess" said Harry, smiling at his 'godparents' working along in the kitchen so naturally and helping himself with a toast.

"Aren't you going to open your gifts?"

"Oh later maybe" answered Harry

"We're starving" added Hermione

"What do you want to drink?" asked Remus to the kids

"Just tea, thanks" said Hermione

"Me too" called Ron (still discreetly clutching his chest)

"Coffee?" asked Harry

"In your dreams" said Sirius and Remus at unison, making everyone laugh.

They had a quiet breakfast (Ron, Hermione and Harry obviously not questioning the fact that they knew Sirius and Remus had already had breakfast) until Ron oh-so-accidentally dropped some of his tea on Remus' shirt.

"OH Professor!" he said, faking worry "I'm so sorry!"

"And so clumsy" added Hermione, which earned her a disapproving glare from Ron. 

"It's ok Ron, look" said Remus delighted. He grabbed his wand from the counter behind him, said _Limpio_ and in a second, the shirt was as clean as it could get. Ron and Hermione were disappointed.

Harry, however, was not paying attention to any of this. As Remus got up to clean Hermione and Ron's teacups, Sirius remained unmovable from the spot against the kitchen counter where he was leaning against, arms crossed over chest, watching Harry finish his breakfast. Every now and then, Sirius and Harry exchanged meaningful glances, both knowing that the other was aware of everything, Harry hiding his wide grin against his last bit of toast. When he was finished, he locked eyes with Sirius again and they both couldn't help but to break into wide grins. 

Sirius turned and looked directly to Hermione. He mouthed the words 'life mate' to her and jerked his head in Remus' direction. Ron and Harry, thinking Sirius was telling them he was Remus' mate for life stared at him in surprise, but Hermione, who had understood what Sirius' had meant, slapped their arms to grab their attention and shook her head. She pointed at herself and whispered in a very low voice "Leave it to me"

"You said something, Hermione?" asked Remus. Werewolf hearing. Hermione scolded herself. 

"Err-" she began, and Sirius nodded at her, eyes wide open "I wanted to ask you a question for- for an essay I have to do"

"Sure"

"I've looked in my books, but there's nothing and as, well, as you're a werewolf"

"Oh it's got to do with that" he said naturally, sitting down again "Yes, there's very little about us. What do you need to know?"

"Is it true that" she swallowed and regained some confidence "Is it true that werewolves mate for life?"

A very sudden hacking cough came to Remus, who turned a attractive shade of crimson, and Sirius moved forward to slap his back. When Remus got better he took a chair and sat down besides him- or rather, sat down besides him extremely close.

"Yes," he answered, in what probably was his most self-assured voice "It is a very –err- delicate choice, because the person we first we-" he swallowed heavily. Sirius choked down a laugh "we have sex with, remains as our mate. Forever"

"In other words, you're condemned to be with that person for the rest of your life?" said Harry, a little horrified.

Under the table, Sirius grabbed one of Remus' tights "Not condemned!" he answered, a little too quickly and a little too high for his liking. Sirius had to use all of his strength to prevent himself from laughing. "What I mean is, you're supposed to be with that person because you're in love, because you want to be with that person forever, no matter what happens to you. It's not condemned. It's- it's a gift to be with the person you love for the rest of your days" he finish his heartfelt answer by avoiding everyone's piercing gaze.

Nobody spoke. Hermione was 'awwing' to herself at the sweet words from her professor and it finally dawned on Harry that Sirius and Remus were _in love_. 

Sirius knew he couldn't hold it any longer. He tapped on Remus' shoulder and looked deep into his eyes, smiling widely, before grabbing his head and kissing him hard on the lips. Remus fought for the first half a second but then let himself be carried away and embraced Sirius, kissing him back.

Ron, Harry and Hermione cheered from their places. They had won.

When Remus and Sirius broke apart, gasping for air, they just stared at each other.

"I am actually afraid to look" said Sirius

"I am terrified. I'm actually going to be their teacher from now on, remember?"

"Come on people" said Harry "You're Gryffindors, show a little courage"

"I'd like to see you in my situation" said Sirius, finally looking at the beaming faces of Harry and his friends "Fine. You caught us. Happy?"

"Do you need to ask, Sirius? Look at their faces!" And indeed, all three were beaming at them.

"We said no more secrets" said Harry grinning broadly, so Sirius wouldn't think he really was reproaching anything.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you. It's just… it's a long story. Anyway, it's not like I can keep anything from you lot"

"Well" said Ron "He did have a little help from his dad"

"What did we forget to hide?" said Sirius instantly, suddenly panicking as to _what_ he could have left.

"I knew that's what you had hid!" said Harry triumphantly

"What did we forget to hide?" repeated Sirius and Remus, now positively terrified

"Nothing embarrassing" said Hermione soothingly "Just Harry's dad's first suspicions about you two"

"ARGH! The first full moon together!" said Sirius, slapping his forehead. "I knew I had left something!"

"What's in there that you want to hide so badly, anyway?"

Remus and Sirius looked at each other, desperately trying to find a good excuse- but there were none "James was -uuhh-very… very detailed when it concerned us." Harry, Ron and Hermione frowned. "The thing is, James was delighted that his best friends were in love with each other. Harry," he said, flashing a second-long smile at Remus "How would you feel if Ron and Hermione got together?" Three sets of eyes suddenly set themselves on Ron and Hermione's faces, which exhibited a very nice shade of crimson, and whose owners grew very nervous. They both discreetly clutched their chests.

Harry, Sirius and Remus had to fight with all of their strength not to burst into laughter.

Harry smiled widely at both of them and making sure they saw his face he said "Positively delighted" Ron and Hermione went even redder. 

"Same happened with James. He was delighted, out of himself with joy. So he wrote in his diary everything we had done whenever he had the chance-"

"Which was everyday-" interrupted Remus "If we decided to spend a night at the Shrieking Shack- the next day James would know everything we had done and at what time. AND I DO MEAN EVERYTHING" he raised his voice, faking a scolding at Sirius.

Sirius placed big puppy dog eyes and stuck his bottom lip out as everyone dissolved into fits of giggles.

"Alright, put the puppy dog eyes away" Remus waved a hand at him trying not to smile.

"Hey, James was a great ear to vent to, you know that"

"Yeah, I know. I don't blame you" both friends suddenly grew silent. 

Deciding he wouldn't let the excellent Christmas mood get ruined, Harry clapped his hands suddenly, making everyone jump as foot from their chairs. "Who wants to open gifts?"

"It was as simple as one of his transformations." Answered Sirius at Harry's question of how they got together, while opening their Christmas gifts "James and Peter weren't with us. We were down at the Shrieking shack and well -animal instinct- we got carried away. Of course, we had liked each other from eons ago, but we only confessed there."

Ron groaned- he had gotten another maroon Weasley sweater with a big R on it. 

"Shh Ron!" said Hermione.

"We kept it in secret from everyone. Even from James. But, he started getting suspicious about our –emm- closeness. And unfortunately for us, he talked to your mother about it- you couldn't get anything past Lily, she had noticed long ago and kept it secret. One evening, James came bursting into the dormitory, fuming because he had been given detention. He opened the curtains of my bed because he wanted to vent about it- and discovered Remus and me kissing." He smiled delighted "The man squealed himself away in happiness and left the room to give us privacy." Both laughed at the mental image.

It was Ron and Hermione's turn to squealed in happiness- they had just opened Sirius and Remus' gifts: the book "The Better Pranks Ever Played at Hogwarts" to Ron and "How To Pass Your OWLs With Top Marks and Still Retain Your Mental Health" for Hermione.

"Do you figure in here?" said Ron, scanning his book

"About a dozen times" said Sirius, puffing out his chest in pride. " Anyway, when we finished Hogwarts, a year later your mum and dad got married, we moved in together, and three years later you were born. You must have been 6 months when everyone started suspecting everyone." and here his voice grew bitter "Dumbledore told James someone close to him was a spy -James told me about it, obviously- and I stupidly suspect Remus" 

"Love" called Remus, leaving aside the new magical suitcase Ron and Hermione had given him. He placed a hand on Sirius' cheek and forced Sirius to meet his gaze. He gave him a small smile and shook his head. "You know what I think" He kissed him briefly and motioned for him to go on.

"We suspected each other, made our lives hell until about two weeks before your parents died. We talked, said a few nasty things and we broke up" 

Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at them wide-eyed.

"You're kidding" said a bewildered Harry. Ron and Hermione, mouths wide open, stared blankly at them. 

"No, I'm not." Smiling at their amazed faces

"But," started Hermione "isn't Sirius your- you know"

"My life mate?" Hermione nodded "Yeah, he is." said Remus, smiling at Sirius' way "I knew what breaking up meant. The wolf wouldn't accept other person, and truth be told, neither would I, but things were very difficult. Imagine thinking your best friend is in league with Voldemort- who's after your other best friend. It was enough to rip everybody apart. It really is a gift from the Gods that our friendship survived unscathed…"

"Of course" continued Sirius "when -everything happened- I knew I had been a fool to suspect Rem but it was done- and all I had left to do was to go after Peter. And you know the outcome of that"

Remus spoke this time. "I spent 12 years with the world claiming he had done it and I never really could believe it. Back at school no one could say the word 'DeathEater' without Sirius jumping at their throats before they could even finish the word- Everyone took him as the best example of a Gryffindor- loyal, anti-Voldemort, brilliant and an incorrigible prankster. Everyone I knew had a hard time believing it- myself most of all."

Sirius went on again "When we met at the 'shack, it was like nothing had happened -don't get me wrong Harry- but we were friends again, and for the moment that worked. You remember during the trial when Rem fainted at court? We had a fight that day-" 

"I know," said Harry, his face somber "I heard it. It was awful"

"It was like something that had been quite asleep woke up that day. The tension –and I'm not talking about anger precisely- just grew from that day until two days after you left for Hogwarts. We had stayed late, talking and we talked about that month before your parents died. We both knew why we had really broken up, but its not easy to go to your ex, who still happens to be your best friend and ask him if he still feels something for you. But we talked and the next day we were back together like if nothing had happened.

As it was still very recent and we still had a lot to work out, we decided not to tell you, Harry, until Christmas holidays -but when the time came none of us could do it- I guess you saved us the job."

Harry let out a snort- he had just unpacked Sirius and Remus' gifts. They had given him the Magician Detective Kit with the book "Learn to be your own Sherlock Holmes" The Sherlock in the cover was smoking a pipe, had a magnifying glass in his left hand and a wand in his right hand.

"Read it. There's some very interesting tricks in there I myself would have been glad to know back when I was at Hogwarts" said Remus

And from what Harry had read, he was right. How to eavesdrop without been seen nor caught, how to record what happens in a room without a Realitizer, how to uncover secret codes, how to discover secret passageways and more.

"Sirius…?" asked Remus, looking at Sirius. Sirius had given him as a Christmas present…. a blanket. A simple blanket, and not a very thick one at that. 

"There's a note" said Sirius mysteriously. And with a mischievous smile, he added "Read it out loud"

Remus fumbled the blanket for the said note until he found it.

"'Dear Rem'" started reading Remus "'This simple blanket may seem as a poor gift- but take into consideration that Hogwarts chambers can be really drafty and I steal the covers constantly.'" Remus snorted at realizing what he had just read "'Love, Sirius' What's this business of I steal the covers?"

"Well, I do. Last night you complained of-"

"ALRIGHT!" said Remus, eyeing the giggling Ron, Harry and Hermione "No need to tell them everything. What are you _really_ talking about?"

"You know how I went to talk to Dumbledore?" Everyone nodded "Well, Flitwick is thinking of retiring" Everyone inhaled once and held their breaths "Exhale people, It's allowed to breathe. Flitwick is _thinking_ of retiring and Dumbledore thinks I could take his place -Ha- so the three of us agreed that he'll teach only the last three years while I take care of the first four"

"You mean- you mean you'll be there?" said Harry, completely astonished "teaching?"

"Yes, which is good. I hated the idea of being left alone" and he turned to see Remus, who hadn't uttered a word. "Well?"

And Remus remained silent. Words failed him. Remus simply leaned forward and gave Sirius the hungriest kiss Ron, Harry or Hermione had ever seen.

Harry seized the chance to go upstairs and get his present for Sirius and Remus. By the time they parted, Harry was back with their gift

"I was having such a mental battle with myself about leaving you here!" spitted Remus "Couldn't you have told me!"

"Harry-" called Ron "Can you imagine Malfoy's face- Sirius right there with you! He won't be strutting around like if he owned the place anymore!"

"Can you imagine Snape" said Harry in a flat voice "He'll make my life hell"

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen" said Sirius, his voice vengeful

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of. Don't do anything… anything…"

"…stupid?"

"Yeah!"

"What's that?" asked Remus, eyeing the packet in Harry's hands. Harry smiled to himself and then handed the packet to Remus and Sirius. "Merry Christmas"

Remus and Sirius tore the packet open like two children at their birthday. When they saw what it was, they gasped.

"Hang it somewhere visible" advised Harry

"What is it Harry?" asked Hermione, looking at the battered wooden sign Sirius and Remus were holding. It was no longer than Harry's arm. It was of natural wood and right on the center of it, it read 'Home sweet abode' in green letters. What had enchanted James and others for years, was that it was a simple muggle sign- no color changing spell, no moving figures- just a plain old family relic of carved wood.

"Some days ago, I was reading of my father's diary and he talked a little about this sign- it sounded familiar, so I checked the photo album Hagrid gave me some years ago. And there it was, behind my mum and dad holding me at their home and as a very tiny blur in a picture taken in their Hogwarts dormitory. I owled Hagrid, hoping he would be able to tell me what happen with their stuff- and it turned out he had kept the sign, because it had survived the- the explosion unscathed and he knew my father adored the sign. He sent it back to me just in time"

"Harry- we can't. James carried this sign with him everywhere he considered home- his parent's house, our Hogwarts dormitory, your home- it's yours, you can't-"

"I just did. Hang it somewhere visible here." They began shaking their heads again "This is home- you know he would have liked it" And they finally agreed- though reluctantly.

"You do it" whispered Sirius to Remus while Crookshanks leaped onto his lap.

This having been said, Remus took his wand, conjured up a nail on the wall right over the fireplace, and solemnly hanged it.

Sirius stroked Crookshanks absentmindedly while he watched Remus and the sign even they had come to love. Suddenly, he took one look at Crookshanks (purring over him) and began laughing like a madman.

"What?" asked Remus, sitting down besides him, starting to laugh himself because Sirius' laugh was truly contagious.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, both as clueless as himself.

Sirius brought his laughter on check and wiped his tears away "I just thought how funny all this is. I was thinking of our little meeting at the Shrieking Shack… I mean, now we are spending Christmas together, Remus, Harry and I are living together and back then everyone wanted to kill each other. How different can a situation get?"

Everyone laughed at this but Harry looked at Sirius and Remus sheepishly 

Remus waved a hand to him "Don't start with that. You were protecting your parents' memory"

"Remus- I was doing it from you" said Harry, as if Remus had no idea of this.

Sirius smiled at him a wide grin "Harry- we're proud you wanted to kill us"

Harry had no choice but to laugh at the absurdity of the statement, as everyone else did.

Harry went back to Hogwarts two days later, along with Ron and Hermione- and Remus and Sirius. Dumbledore, of course, knew of Remus and Sirius' relationship. It's not like it was easy to hide something that big from the Hogwarts headmaster.  Dumbledore and Flitwick insisted that Sirius was intelligent enough to take on all of the years without parting the hours with the tiny professor, but as Sirius had spent the last fourteen years without working (including the last five peaceful months) he told everyone he wanted to take it slowly- too many sudden changes at once did nobody good.

"Six months ago I was Public Enemy No. 1" said Sirius one day to Remus in their private chamber. "Or rather, No. 2 if you count Voldemort- and now I'm free, I'm back with you again and I'm living with Harry and Dumbledore wants me to teach Charms to all of Hogwarts. My mind is still having trouble accepting it. It's a lot. And I still have so many things to sort out- including James and Lily. I'm going to take everything step by step, and with very small and relaxed steps- yes, I realize it's very unlike myself" he said when he saw Remus smirk "But that way I'll enjoy everything more. And when the time comes to face Voldemort and Peter by his side- I'll do things the right way this time."

*********************

The End

A/N: First off, thanks for all your amazing reviews. I love them! My ego loves them! ;)

I'm not really sure about this being the end. It is for this fic, but I'm tempted to do a sequel, at Hogwarts- a sequel of the sequel to Judging Innocence. Ha. What do you think?

I have a plot for it, but I'm afraid it's much darker than this one… Voldemort IS still out there, you know?


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